A voluminous black suitcase propped against the wall in Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba’s office will be stuffed with brochures, promotional materials and free samples from Davenport businesses hoping to cash in on the mayor’s trip to Saudi Arabia.

Gluba is treating this week’s journey to the Middle East — for which he was recruited by the U.S. Conference of Mayors — as a business trip.

“It’s something that fell in my lap, and we’re trying to take full advantage of it,” he said. “We’re not guaranteed anything, but you want to lay the groundwork and plant the seeds. I know if you do nothing, you don’t get anything.”

Gluba is one of a dozen mayors — most from larger metropolitan areas — invited to the weeklong expedition to the country beginning Thursday. The trip is being paid for by the government of Saudi Arabia.

The group will meet with high-ranking Saudi officials, private sector representatives, the Saudi Arabian Chamber of Commerce and will visit oil fields, the Saudi foreign ministry and educational institutions.

At Gluba’s request, Cynthia Maccotan, the city’s economic development program manager, reached out to area industries and businesses, offering them an opportunity to take their sales pitches or products overseas. Maccotan also ran a search, through the New Venture Center’s Business Information for Growth Database, to identify 40 companies in Riyadh and Jeddah that manufacture industrial machinery.

“These are companies that could integrate easily into our local economy in Davenport and the Quad-Cities,” she said, adding that Davenport is a natural choice for companies looking to expand into North America due to the logistics of central location and ready access to river, rail, air and over-the-road transportation.

Maccotan, who came to Davenport from Seattle, said the Pacific Northwest city had success turning international trips into business opportunities, especially in the aerospace industry. While Davenport and the Quad-Cities rank on a smaller scale, its large number of fabricated metal manufacturing, tool and die shops and other industrial companies make it very marketable.

Jim Classen, executive vice president of business development for Marco, an industrial abrasive company, was happy to supply Gluba with company literature.

The company, which specializes in cleaning and repainting steel, counts the petrochemical industry as its largest customer base. Much of the firm’s work is done for companies in Texas, but a recent $130,000 order of equipment came from Saudi Arabia.

“The Middle East is the sweet spot for what we do,” he said. “Any exposure we can get is a good thing.”

Gluba said it’s not too late for other businesses or professional service providers to supply him with material.

“Anyone can send or e-mail me a one-page summary of what they do or what they are promoting, and I will try to get that in the hands of trade representatives in Saudi Arabia,” he said.

The delegation leaves Thursday and returns May 14.